I first met Mr. and Mrs. Daley in July of 2014. I had been working at NAAH for one month. I had been out of veterinary school for one year. I was definitely still learning about practicing veterinary medicine outside the white walls of veterinary school and in the real world. I saw their dog Bandit for some skin issues that he was prone to getting and it was a pretty standard visit. Since then, we’ve became great friends. Bandit had a few minor issues as he got older and we worked together to manage those. His biggest life altering moment was probably when the Daley’s introduced a wild little Shih Tzu puppy named BooBoo into the house in 2018. By then, Bandit was eleven and it took awhile to adjust to the new family member. They soon became big buddies and all was well. The Daleys have always had the utmost confidence in myself and NAAH and they always make sure to let me know that. They trust us thoroughly with the care of their pets and that’s something we don’t take for granted.
In December of 2020, they brought Bandit in for some lethargy and a noticeable amount of weight loss. On ultrasound, a cancerous liver mass was discovered. I knew that the time left with Bandit wouldn’t be long. It was so difficult telling Mrs. Daley that her sweet boy wouldn’t be with her much longer. I was hopeful that with palliative care we would get a few months of good quality life with Bandit. Within a short month, we had to say goodbye to him.
Pets come into our lives for a relatively short time and then are gone. While they’re with us, they show us what true unconditional love is. While helping pets is obviously a big part of why we come to NAAH on a daily basis, building long lasting relationships with our clients is also a huge part of our ‘why’. In a profession where we definitely remember the losses more than the wins, the cases where you gave it your all and yet you still couldn’t do enough, it’s amazing to have clients like the Daleys that give myself and our team so much encouragement.
-Dr. Thompson
Dr. Thompson, BooBoo and the Daleys at a recent visit.
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